Alzheimer's and the Baby Boomers
Those of us born between 1946 and 1964 are called the Baby Boomers. We have also been dubbed the "sandwich" generation. In respect to Alzheimer's Disease, we Boomers are affected in more ways than you think.
Now you may wonder, how does this affect me? I am not old. True, but many of us have mothers, fathers, aunts and grandparents who are aging and are suffering with Alzheimer's. In 70% of Alzheimer's cases, relatives take responsibility for the round-the-clock care an Alzheimer's patient needs. This means that our generation is shouldering a huge burden when we should be enjoying our careers, our empty nests, our retirement, our "freedom," you may even say.
The Alzheimer's population in the United States is expected to triple as the baby boomer population matures over the next quarter century. This has a wide-ranging effect on work, leisure, finances, and quality of life for Baby Boomers. Three out of four caregivers are women, many with children at home and full or part-time jobs.
The strain of caring for a larger extended family has negative effects on us 40-somethings in several ways. The average woman, according to a 1990 Newsweek story, spends 17 years raising children, and 18 years helping aging parents. Baby Boomers have had their parents around for longer than any other generation. We are reaching the age where we may experience our first encounters with illnesses of our own. As we reach our '40s and '50s, our health may become a factor in our lives for the first time.
Even Congress is concerned about this growing threat to the health of the population. In 1993, the Assistant Secretary of Aging testified before Congress about planning for the future of the Baby Boomer generation. Many Biotech companies have hit upon the fact that our generation is beginning to realize the limits of our mortality. Reading over a list of people who utilized the services of Dr. Jack Kevorkian, I was struck because the majority of his "clients" were in my age group.
Nursing homes, VA Hospitals, and other care facilities are going to be taxed to their limits as the Boomer generation ages. Science and medicine have advanced so far that we are living longer than any other generation. As a group, the Baby Boomers have had fewer children and with today's high divorce rate, blended families, and stepchildren, we may have created a whole new pool of potential caregivers. Dr. Lore Wright said in a 1996 article,
Latest Articles